#google-gemini

#google-gemini

"People talk most about": In several examples, this is just a straight-up list of exactly three menu items. For one spot, it was literally just: omakase, sake, nigiri. "People love to order": This section gets a star icon and goes deeper than just listing names. It includes brief descriptions of specific dishes, like noting a Michigan Roll has a "generous portion of tuna."

Among the bigger news items was Google's launch of an e-commerce shopping checkout feature directly from Google Search's AI Mode and its Gemini chatbot app. Among the first takers for the new feature is retail behemoth Walmart, so this is a big deal. Behind the scenes, the AI checkout is powered by a new " Universal Commerce Protocol" that should make it easier for retailers to support agentic AI sales.

It may finally be time to take AI on the iPhone siri-ously. Apple and Google on Monday announced a multi-year partnership that will see Apple Foundation Models standing on the shoulders of Google Gemini models, one that will return a small portion of the roughly $20 billion Google pays annually to be Apple's default search provider. Terms of the tie-up have not been disclosed, but Bloomberg previously reported that Apple was planning to pay about $1 billion per year to utilize Google's AI technology.

In November, reports claimed Apple would pay Google to provide a kind of white-label version of Google Gemini AI that will run securely on Apple's own Private Cloud Compute servers. Gemini will provide query and summary capabilities, but the service will be branded as an Apple service - albeit boosted by Cupertino's own privacy features. This is likely to be the first of a small number of partnerships; the company is also thought to be on the cusp of reaching similar deals in China.

Not surprisingly, Google is also looking to make some cash from purchases made via its Gemini chatbot. The company just launched the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a new open standard intended to make it easier for companies to connect their inventory to Google's AI, allowing you to browse and purchase without leaving Gemini or AI Mode. UCP was built in collaboration with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart and is endorsed by 20 others, including American Express, Best Buy, Flipkart, Macy's, Mastercard, Stripe, The Home Depot, and Visa, Google says.

Gmail's version lets you ask questions about your messages in the search bar, using natural language. Google uses the example of, "Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?" It's hard to imagine that saving much time over a basic search for "plumber quote" or "plumbing estimate," but maybe it could help in some situations.

Earlier this year, we shared our plans to upgrade the Assistant experience to Gemini on most mobile devices by the end of 2025. We're adjusting our previously announced timeline to make sure we deliver a seamless transition, and will continue our work to upgrade Assistant users to Gemini on mobile devices into 2026. We'll share more details on our plans in the coming months. Your feedback matters to us. Feel free to drop any further suggestions here.

Google wanted to remove Assistant from most Android phones by the end of 2025 and replace it with Gemini. But now the company has announced that it needs a bit more time to make its AI assistant the new default digital helper for most of its users. Google said that it's adjusting its previously announced timeline to "make sure [it delivers] a seamless transition" and that updates to convert Assistant to Gemini on Android devices will continue into the next year.

Google Gemini is quickly becoming my favorite versatile AI tool. Not only is the quality of output that the latest AI model, Gemini 3 Pro, generates impressive, but Google has added a few great features that streamline interactions with the AI tool.

One of the twists in the AI wars has been Google sort of bouncing back, this surge by Gemini versus OpenAI's ChatGPT. Sam Altman calling this code red. You've said before that it's hard to know who a winner will be. Interestingly, on Pivot, we thought Google was going to do this because they had all the pieces. If they didn't, what a bunch of idiots, that kind of thing.

The QM9K is available in four different sizes: 65 inches ($2,999.99), 75 inches ($3,499.99), 85 inches ($3,999.99), and 98 inches ($5,999.99). It was the first TV to launch with Google Gemini, it has a presence sensor that can turn on its ambient mode to show artwork (much like an art TV), and TCL claims it's capable of up to 6,500 nits of brightness.

November was the month AI went full gladiator mode: three frontier labs released their best models within a week, Google reclaimed the throne with Gemini 3, and open source proved it can win Olympic gold medals in mathematics. Meanwhile, the agent revolution became official doctrine at Microsoft and Google, and China's AI ecosystem hit escape velocity with 10 million app downloads in seven days.